What techniques do you use for panneling?

[Lucca_Vendramel]

When you're making your comic, how do you choose the position, shape and size of your panels? Is it based on symbolism, action, panoramic, dialogue or just out of the top of your head?
Share your strategies!

[Iris-Grimoire]

I'll keep an eye on the thread because I really need a method. Usually I go like I go making whole picture compositions, which is trying whatever comes to mind for a certain mood (action, sad, comedic) until it works, keeping it in 3 columns at the most, and that takes way too long.

[Tanako]

This is a very good question. I am currently on Hiatus when it comes to drawing right now due to this very incident you just mentioned. I normally just go based of of dialogue mostimes but sometimes, i go based on just switching things out. i always tell myself to remember drawing background every once in a while so the characters don't look like they are in limbo.
another thing i do is use reference. i'f i'm reading a comic and i see a really good prospective scene i think i might want to use later, i save that image incase i need it in the future.

[nostalgicroxas]

I think that @rajillustration did a great job explaining their panelling process in how they want the eye to move. They were talking about shadows and coloring but the same applies to overall page composition, including panels.

Like other's have mentioned, grayscale bases act as a contrast study--to see if the page still flows based just on black and white alone. Later, you can add color, but since grayscale can make your colors seem gray, sometimes I just leave the grayscale study to the side, Other times I usually smother it in filter layers or add a "gradient map" layer. So I actually really hate the typical comic pipeline, although I can do it if I'm bothered enough to do it. It just feels really redundant of a p…

One important thing to note is how you want your readers to read it via delivery. For traditional comics and manga they utilize several tricks - diagonals, horizontals, and verticals. "Love Stage" does a great job at showing this (YuGiOh too but Takahashi also utilizes 2 page spreads a lot)

[tchotchkeco]

I follow a “Z” flow pattern when making my panels. Here’s an example I found on the internet.

For my panel sizes it depend on what’s going on. If there’s just dialogue then the panels are smaller. If there’s action then the shots are more zoomed in to only show the contact. Panels are normally big if they’re high impact scenes or establishing shots.

[arcojawa]

Pretty much all of my panels start off in a in a very strict 4x4 layout. But after that things start changing. If I want to put more emphasis on a panel I'll either stretch it bigger or reduce the number of panels. If I need to get more done within the page I may double up some panels. The panels can all change pretty radically but they always start out in that plain initial layout.

[punkarsenic]

its primarily on flow and timing, and i base em on the rule of thirds and golden ratio

Panel Layout: The Golden Ratio - MakingComics.com

[BlueDragon]

I want to improve my paneling. I try to look at examples of comics I like, as well as going through Scott McCloud's book (though I need to re-read it. I think it's best to constantly re-read things so it sticks XD Now to find the time.)

I am the first to admit I need to work on eye-flow. It's not one of my strong suits...

[BlueDragon]

Thank you for sharing that! I am going to bookmark this page! :3

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I do my sketches first, make sure the action flows just right, and then I do panelling. I just do simple squares and rectangular shapes. Pretty simple, but that's all I do.

[rajillustration]

aw, thanks for the shout-out @nostalgicroxas !

I also want to add that, for me, I place my words on the page in the right size and font before I do any drawing. Like in my script I make page breaks based on how much dialogue or movements there will be per page (so that way I don't end up with a page with 20 panels), and even then I usually have to take like 1/4 of the dialogue out based on space. So my pipeline goes:

1. polished script
2. cut script into pages (highlight any words that will be used on the page) and indicate how many panels per page (which depends on the size page, I do an 8.5 x 11 so I can use over 5 panels no problem but when I was doing manga-sized pages, going over 5 panels was pushing it).
3. lay the font out on the page in the finalized size and type and see if it fits and if the page flows. Then, I proportion panels based on what characters say or what they do, so bigger panels go to grander statements (if there's an action I'll just copy paste the action line that I've written in the script to delete later.)
4. Add more pages if there's too many words
5. Oh no I have to add so many more pages
6. Make the the rough sketch of characters and panels using stick figures, trying really hard not to break up the order of the speech bubbles, and having my stick figures really lean in the action to direct the eye to the proper bubbles. If it's a panel with a lot of energy or emotion I like to make it a panel without 45 degree corners.
7. Then do a layer where I make clean panel edges and then another layer where I do finalized text bubbles because if I don't I will absolutely end up with a bubble on someone's face. bubbles are always so much bigger than I expect them to be.
8. Then I actually start drawing/painting/laying out perspective guides and taking SO much reference of hands.

For me a lot of paneling is actually just making sure that the words can read in the correct order. The entire page is just service for bubbles and no matter how good my art is, the words are the star. It's waaay easier for me to do a comic that doesn't have words. But maybe it's because that's one of my greatest weaknesses I feel that I try so hard to get that down and solid first.

[Wumbl]

Panelling is very difficult to explain simply but I'll give a few pointers in short summary. I'll try to include examples from my own work so you can see tips in practice. This is all stuff I've picked up as I taught myself how to panel and pencil - sometimes panelling and pencilling intertwine a lot.

1. Eye-flow. Pay attention to how the eyes will roll over your page and arrange your panels and word bubbles in a way that leads the eye smoothly. Here's a diagram of how I did it in a recent page.

2. Necessity. Ask yourself if the panel is needed. If you're trying to highlight a specific plot-important action, you might need two panels to bring attention to it like this:

Or if you simply want to portray something simple like a conversation or generalised movement then one panel is enough. For example, in this panel it's important that the two women are embracing each other but there's no reveal or drama in that action so it's only one panel:

1. Density. You might want to have a page packed with panels of you might want one with some blank space to emphasise the dialogue.
   A page with plenty of panels to emphasise the action:
   

   
   
   A page with less panels to emphasise the dialogue and emotion:
   
   

2. Shape. Sometimes you might want to have regular rectangles to keep a still mood or other times you might want jagged or round panels. Your shapes should reflect what the mood of the scene is.
   Jagged panels to create tension: (also with bright, intense colours)
   

   
   
   Rectangular panels to portray stillness and calm: (the colours are also shifted to green/blue tints - cool, calming colours)
   
   

3. Dimensions. Sometimes you might want to overlap panels or break out of them. This can be used to create further emphasis onto certain things. If something pokes out of the panel, it's going to look more lively and important.
   Here, the sword pokes out of the panel to add a sense of real danger to its heavy swing.
   

   

4. Detail. Whether your panel is focused on just one item or a little more grounded in the scene is up to you, but you should try to use both detailed close-up panels and scene-inclusive panels in order to show off details without confusing the reader about space and position. As you can see in the pages I've shown, the panels in each page work to keep you informed on where everyone is and what they're doing, but sometimes they also allow you to see a specific emotion or action if its important. Finding a balance between plot and detail is important. More inclusive panels also allow you to build the world in a subtle way.

[Lucca_Vendramel]

What are the dimensions most of you use? I feel like my pages are too small.

[Iris-Grimoire]

If you're not doing a scroll comic (which then only has your avaliable time and a good episode break as a limit), I recommend going either for the standard american comic aspect ratio of 663 x 1024 pixels or the size of a A4 paper sheet of 2480 x 3508 pixels.
That means it's going to be easier to crop and print in the future, even if it doesn't display as prettily on mobile. But keep in mind they're aspect ratios, usually it's better to increase the size of the original picture if your computer can handle it to work on details and have a higher quality, which then can be shrunk down to fit whatever you need.

[malverav]

At its heart, comics tell a story, your panels must do the same. To make them serve the story, I use timing. Long, lingering shots mean a lot of time, short sharp panels mean seconds. Steady panels mean a nice even story beat, short sharp panels, panels on angles, denotes action, tension, maybe a fight scene. This helps your viewer get a sense of how fast or slow things are happening; panelling will help control the pace of your comic. Think like a movie director - look at the next movie you watch and note how much the camera really jumps around, and transfer it to your comic. If you want a masterclass in panelling, read Scott Pilgrim or O'Malley's other book, Seconds, right now. Seconds is a great example of how to make dialogue fantastic and the artful use of panels to tell a story.

Use dialogue balloons and sound effects to lead eyes around the page. I treat my whole page like one composition, then my panels as parts of a whole; this works for me but you might prefer to look at your panel individually especially if you work in a long scroll webtoon format.

Don't be afraid to break panel borders or not use them at all for effect, but like anything that can get overused. I used to use CSP's framing but got tired of not being able to easily edit the things, so I use them as a guide and trace over them now.

On the micro level, vary up your compositions, too - here's Wally Wood's basic panels. If you're stuck for ideas, these always work:

Here's some pages that demo what I mean in my own work; I like to think I'm pretty good at panelling. The resolution is very bad, make sure to remove your glasses before looking at them for your own safety...

It's jousting. I arranged the panels to draw as few horses as possible and to condense twenty minutes of riding very fast at each other with long sticks into a short, sharp montage. The panels are also very weird, attention grabbing, and bright. The oranges in the bottom tie them together as a series, seperate in colour and size from the middle section. This helps them be part of a string of actions, or a set.

There's one panel on this page and it'd be too cluttered with more. Here's where breaking away from the structure is really impactful. I'm not linking to this comic as it will probably break forum rules, but rest assured that it's great.

Here's me trying to keep a whole lot of yapping visually interesting. Middle panel I wanted to make it feel temporally apart from the rest. Maybe there's some slowmo. You can read this comic here if you really feel the need.

[Cavechan]

My style is manga-style so I will speak strictly in terms of manga-style paneling since it's different than western-style paneling.

Number of panels - For manga-style, a typical page has 2 columns and 3 rows for an average of 6 panels per page. So you have your basic panel layout and then you can move around those panels, make some bigger, some smaller, remove some, add some, some bleed off the page, some don't to create the page layout. I usually start from the top left of the page and go in reading order.

The rows will typically go together or work with each other in some way. For example, below. Notice how the first 3 panels go together, then the 4&5, then the 6&7.

To be honest, when I lay out my panels I rarely consider any sort of "flow" like how @tchotchkeco mentioned. I base my panels more off of dialogue and full page composition. Well, my stories are more focused on the dialogue than much of action anyway. If someone is saying something dramatic, typically draw a close up of an expression. If someone is explaining, than a more subdued look. If there is action, then tilt the panels. It's important to vary the size and angle of the panel in order to match the feeling of the characters.

But also not too much. I am very adamant in my own work about keeping to a grid with clean panels and not straying far from it. Not trying to say that it's wrong/right, but in my personal view I would consider some of @Prince_Wumbl's examples to be messy and this is where it gets into my preferred aesthetic of manga versus western style. For example, in the 1. Density example, the placement of the bubbles is a bit confusing because of the strange intersection of panels 3&4.

Mind you, this page below is still the craziest I've gone in regards to panel layout.

I don't think you need to go crazy to show action. Just angle the panel borders a bit and make the drawing more angled too or popping out of the borders:

Hierarchy. This is the size of the panels. The biggest panel will be the most important panel and the most important shots can take up almost an entire page, an entire page, or a 2-page spread.

Space between panels - super important. In the first Love Stage example from @nostalgicroxas it is suffering from not having any space between the panels. I see this type of paneling more in shoujo or BL manga, but I still think it's better in general to have breathing room between panels. I guess I would equate the negative space to a frame on a painting.

It's important to keep in mind that a comic is not first and foremost about art nor about the story, it's the communication. So I think it's important to always utilize techniques that will help in what you are trying to communicate. More daring scenes or emotions will have more dramatic paneling. Action scenes will typically have more diagonal paneling.